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Guinea-Bissau - Bissau

Elliot For Water’s first humanitarian project will take place in Africa, more precisely in Guinea-Bissau. To undertake this project with the professionalism that it requires, in February 2016 the Elliot For Water Team will go on the field to carry out a situational and needs analysis of the villages where the SolWa technology will be implemented. This project will be undertaken with the close collaboration of the London based charity Well Found. Well Found has been operating in West Africa for the past 10 years and has undertaken several projects in both Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso.

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Guinea-Bissau, an ex Portuguese colony, is a country located in West Africa, which borders with Senegal, Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean. Guinea-Bissau is one of the 20 poorest countries in the world and just over one million people, divided in at least 30 different ethnic groups, populate it. 42% of the population is under 15 years old. The country’s economy mostly relies on the primary sector: 90% of the population works in the agriculture or fishing and farming industry, but what is cultivated is not enough to feed the whole population. The official language spoken is Portuguese, however Creole is the most adopted language throughout the country. Other different local languages are used in the villages and this creates sometimes communication difficulties between ethnic groups. Besides these rare issues, what differentiates this country from many others is the harmony in which the different ethnic groups live together and interact, without having to adapt or homologate with one another.

In Guinea Bissau, water is generally collected from shallow wells, ponds or rivers where the water is highly contaminated by germs, and therefore really unsafe to drink. Moreover, the collection of water is time consuming and dangerous for women and children, who are usually sent off to collect water instead of to work or to school. Still today, almost 70% of the population is illiterate. This has major implications on the economy, mostly because it stops the installation of any kind of production plants. The technology that Elliot For Water chooses does not require any highly skilled staff to be operated or maintained. The simplicity of the natural process of depuration that these technologies activate is, in fact, accessible and easy to run even with the most rudimental tools and in the most rural villages. This is at the bases of Elliot For Water’s values: to gradually introduce sustainable and effective technologies which, while respecting the culture and environment of the villages, guarantee a durable implementation of changes that will drastically improve the quality of life of the people.

The mortality rate in Guinea-Bissau is very high, especially among the children: the tragic average is that 2 out of 10 children do not reach 5 years of life, and life expectancy is 47 years old. This dramatic reality, and the awareness of it, created a general perception of life limited to survival, with no expectations from the future, if not for what concerns immediate needs. Those who have no choice in their present cannot plan their future. This is what Elliot For Water, with Well Found and with all of you, wants to offer: a choice. Pure water means health, food, education, jobs and hope. Pure water means better quality of life, longer life expectations, and having the opportunity to create a future!

Here is one more reason to set Elliot For Water as your default search engine, bring water to Guinea Bissau with each one of your searches.